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Newborn Bath Frequency: 3 Risks of Bathing Too Often

Wondering about newborn bath frequency? Bathing a baby too often can cause dry skin, irritation and hypothermia. Here are the 3 risks to know.

Mother giving a newborn baby a bath

Bathing is one of the ways we keep our bodies clean. But did you know that a newborn should not be bathed too often? If you plan to bathe your baby, pay attention to the right bath time for babies. Here are 3 bad effects of bathing a baby too often.

3 Bad Effects of Bathing a Baby Too Often

  1. Dry Skin

Bathing does wash away the germs and bacteria on the body, but a baby who is bathed too often can end up with very dry skin. Dry skin irritates easily. You only need to bathe your baby about 2 times a day and no more, because more baths may affect your little one's skin.

If you use soap, choose a safe one. Not every soap is suitable for a baby's skin. Adult soap contains harsher ingredients that can irritate a baby's skin. Irritation often starts with dry skin, which is why you need to pay attention to your baby's bath schedule.

  1. Irritation

The second bad effect of bathing too often and ignoring the right bath time for babies is that the baby's skin can become irritated. Irritation is a more advanced stage of dry skin. When a baby's skin is dry, small cuts form easily without mothers noticing. The skin also becomes more sensitive, so when the baby is given a baby bath product, it may cause a reaction.

Symptoms of irritation can include a rash or red spots. They can also be caused by the baby's skin touching soap too often. Even if the soap is safe and made for babies, that does not justify overusing it. Mothers should not forget that a baby's skin is more sensitive than an adult's.

  1. Hypothermia

Newborns do not yet have much fat under the skin, so they get cold easily. Did you know that one function of fat is to keep the body warm? This mechanism is not yet fully working in a baby's body, so mothers must keep their babies from getting cold.

It is also unwise to bathe a baby too often without paying attention to the right bath time for babies, because it may make the baby prone to illness. Too much time exposed to the air can make a baby catch the flu. Flu is a common illness, but in babies the symptoms can turn serious.

Keeping a baby healthy is a priority, because their immune system is still very vulnerable. This is clearly different from adults. Also, not all medicines can be given to babies. So the best step is prevention, so the baby does not get sick.

Those are the 3 bad things that can happen if you bathe a baby too often. While your baby is a newborn, try not to put them in direct contact with water too often. You can visit the official Mitu Baby Care blog for more guides on caring for your little one.